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THE METAPHYSICIiL SHAKESPEARE 

AN INTERPRETATION 



THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 



ZU metapbvsical Sbakespeare 

Each Interpretation is a Key- 
to the Play it Accompanies 
and Proves that the Only 
Basis upon which Shake- 
speare built his Dramas was 
the Bible* J^ ^ J* J> 



tbe mercbant of Uenice 

A Metaphysical 
Interpretation by 

JULIA RUGGLES 



Pasadena, California 

OCCIDENTAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

J908 



. ««f « fc »^ rrfr . T 1 r ■ -f . , 



5LIBHARY of C0N-3KiSSJ 
. Two Copies Kecdiy.jfc 

JAN 15 1908 

^OUSS A XACe !^8vy. 

COPY B, 



Copyright, 1907. 
By Julia Ruggles. 

All Rights Reserved. 






BLESSED IS HE THAT READ- 
ETH, AND THEY THAT HEAR 
THE WORDS OE THIS PROPH- 
ECY, AJSTD KEEP THOSE 
THINGS WHICH ARE WRIT- 
TEN THEREIN: FOR THE TIME 
IS AT HAND. 



INTEODUCTION. 



INTRODUCTION. 

It is now three hundred years since 
Shakespeare wrote his matchless 
plays, but it is only during the last 
century that they have been brought 
forward artistically, critically and 
educationally, by scholar, actor and 
lover of the drama. Today they 
stand supreme among the world's 
masterpieces and first in the affec- 
tions of all English-speaking peoples. 
During these centuries thinkers of 
each generation have contributed to 
a voluminous mass of literature bear- 
ing on Shakespeare's works. Each 
play has been dissected; every char- 
acter, minor and important, has been 



8 Introdtjctiox 

analyzed to atoms; every possible 
source from which this master genius 
could have dravv^n the material for his 
settings has been investigated, and by 
this means there has been given to the 
world a Shakespeareana of great in- 
terest and undoubted value. 

Nevertheless, the real source of his 
plays has never yet been named. Af- 
ter mature consideration, I here take 
the stand, without reservation, that 
Shakespeare's sole source of inspira- 
tion was the Bible. 

It was his deliberate intention to 
dramatize the fundamental teachings 
of Christianity, so far as he under- 
stood them. This was his Alpha and 
Omega. The simplest truths of the 
Scriptures inspired his liveliest scenes 
and most dramatic passages. 



Introduction^ 9 

Long lias the world glibly referred 
to ' ' Shakespeare and the Bible, ' ' and 
all unconsciously has it accorded to 
them, on the ascending scale, their 
normal relation to one another, 
' ' Shakespeare and the Bible. ' ' 

The teachings of the Bible, uncol- 
ored by doctrine, dogma, creed and 
ritual^ are the truth about God, man 
and the universe; and the plays are 
based upon these teachings, and upon 
nothing else. They have lived, there- 
fore, in the hearts of the people to 
feed and satisfy the craving for truth. 
Today, as never before, does the proud 
knee of intellect and ecclesiasticism 
bow to the simple, but potent, teach- 
ings of Jesus, v\^ho spake in parable 
and diminutive drama as never man 
spake; and from Galilean hill-sides 



10 IXTKODUCTION 

reiterated the eternal facts of man's 
unity with God, and the ISTew Com- 
mandment, love, as his only govern- 
ment. Only as "earthly power" 
yields to the sway of mercy can it 
"show likest God's." The' Master 
knew that Christianity as He 
preached and practiced it, would be 
obliged, and could afford, to wait for 
its certain and universal recognition. 
When this, too, dawned upon 
Shakespeare's mind, he determined to 
evolve a form through which he could 
picture forth to his fellow man what 
he conceived to be the exact and sim- 
ple truth concerning the operation of 
spiritual law, and reveal, without 
arousing antagonism, the knowledge 
that certain benefits, including ulti- 
mate salvation, accrue to man when 



Inteodltction 11 

he accepts its imperative demands. 

The literary form chosen by Shake- 
speare was the most despised of his 
day. It was the Drama. Until the es- 
tablishment of the Stuarts upon the 
throne of England, English had been 
the language of the masses ; the class- 
es still spoke in French and wrote in 
Latin. Latin was the tongue in which 
most of the religious teachings of the 
world were then couched, and it was 
the language in which the Bible had 
existed for hundreds of years. Tyn- 
dale and Wj^ckliffe had at the peril of 
their lives translated the Bible into 
English, but the Scriptures read from 
them were not yet in full favor. Latin 
was pointed to by all scholars as the 
permanent language of elegant litera- 
ture. English was to be the speech 



12 Introductiox 

of tlie middle classes and peasantry. 
So convinced of this was Francis Ba- 
con that he translated many of his 
works written in English into Latin 
to preserve them to posterity. 

The King James version of the Bi- 
ble was made from the four English 
Bibles then already in existence, and 
it was his royal word that put forward 
in England the first of the two pov\^er- 
ful influences which decided the fu- 
ture of the English language. The 
other potent influence was Shake- 
speare. Shakespeare not only hid his 
precious secret away in the humble 
form of the drama, but he also framed 
his immortal message in the despised 
language of the people. As a result 
of the simultaneous appearance of the 
King James Bible and the plays of 



IXTHODUCTIOX 13 

Shakespeare in this tongue^ English 
was discovered to possess an unsus- 
pected elegance. Other writers of 
this period felt the radiance of this 
uplifting influence without under- 
standing it, and the literature of Eng- 
land leaped at a single bound into the 
leadership of the world's master- 
pieces. Just so surely as there is no 
standard superior to that we call 
Shakespearean, just so surely will his 
language girdle the globe and help to 
take the English Bible with it. 

Shakespeare in adopting the drama 
flung the classic unities to the four 
winds. He used the literature of all 
lands to supply his settings, dressed 
the heroes of history in colors to 
please himself, but he never wavered 
from his central theme — the triumph 



14 Introdtjction 

of rigliteousness through man when 
governed by spiritual law, which pre- 
serves him from harm ; and the inevi- 
table self-destruction of evil, includ- 
ing the evil-doer, unless its snake-like 
spell is checked and turned down up- 
on its belly to eat the dust of its own 
sacrilegious argument. 

The religious world of Shake- 
speare's day was too confused to re- 
ceive this lesson from his pen. Today 
the church is broader in its every out- 
look The intellectual and scientific 
world of Shakespeare's day was oc- 
cupied in splitting hairs on non-essen- 
tials. Today it is prepared to wel- 
come anything that contributes, to 
man's welfare and increased mental 
elasticity. 

Shakespeare, therefore, three hun- 



Introduction 15 

dred years ago laid Ms ^^ pearl of great 
price ^' quietly away behind the gor- 
geous panorama of history and trag- 
edy, the sparkling surface of comedy 
and song, knowing that the full im- 
port of his message would reach, at 
the appointed hour, a generation 
ready to run, ready to read. 

This hour has struck. 

I, therefore, offer the following in- 
terpretation of The Merchant of Ven- 
ice, knowing that the play itself will 
furnish adequate proof that this read- 
ing is correct. In this play 

Antonio represents the average 
moralist seeking the world's good 
opinion. 

The Venetian Law represents hu- 
man law unable to save man from sin 
and death, because of its own self- 



16 Inteoductiox 

created limitations. 

Sliylock represents the Mosaic law. 

Portia represents the Ideal — ^the 
higher Hebrew law now called Chris- 
tian — which says: ^^Love is the ful- 
filling of the lavv^/' i. e., the old Mosaic 
law. 

Portia^s Suitors represent the 
world in pursuit of a false concept of 
the Ideal; judging according to ap- 
pearances. 

Bassanio represents those who cor- 
rectly perceive the Ideal, by abandon- 
ing the material sense of it, and 
through ^^ righteous judgment/' judg- 
ing not according to appearances, en- 
ter into the jDossession of it. 

Belmont represents the home of the 
Ideal, where the fulfillment is 
achieved. 



SHAKESPEARE. 

I see all human wits 
Are measured, but a few; 
Unmeasured still my Shakespeare 

sits. 
Lone as the Blessed Jew. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. 



THE METAPHYSICAL 
INTERPRETATION 

OP 

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. 



THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, 



Venice in Shakespeare's day was 
the center of both the financial and 
legal world. Standing as she did at 
the head of the Adriatic sea, she was 
the one objective point on the great 
commercial highway between the east 
and the west. The treasures of the 
Orient — gems, rugs, spices, gums, 
ivory, gold, candied fruits and price- 
less fabrics — came up over the deserts 
by caravan to the coast and thence: 
were shipped to Venice. Italy was 
then the land of the heart's desire, and 
thither resorted the wealth of all 



22 The Merchant of Venice 

countries in pursuit of both the pleas- 
ure and the gain that attends always 
upon the incoming of ships. 

Venetian law was so exact in its ex- 
ecution of justice that its standards 
upheld all the lesser courts of Eur- 
ope. In this play the Venetian law 
typifies the assumed infallibility of 
human law to adequately protect man. 
Shylock naturally looks to the hither- 
to unquestioned legal standard of the 
Venetian court for support in claim- 
ing all that his bond gives him. When 
Salarino says : 
SaJarino, 

I am sure the duke 
Will never grant this forfeiture to hold. 

Act III, Scene j. 
Antonio replies : 

Antonio. 

The duke cannot deny the course of law : 



The Meechant of Venice 23 

For the commodity that strangers have 
With us in Venice, if it be denied, 
Will much impeach the justice of the state; 
Since that the trade and profit of the city 
Consisteth of all nations. 

Act III, Scene j. 

And later Portia adds in support of 
the honor of Venetian law : 

Portia. 

There is no power in Venice 
Can alter a decree established: 
'Twill be recorded for a precedent, 
And many an error by the same example 
Will rush into the state : it cannot be. 

Act IV, Scene i. 
And following her matchless appeal 
to the Jew for mercy, she says : 

Portia. 

I have spoke thus much 

To mitigate the justice of thy plea; 

Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice 
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant 



24 The Meechant of Yenics 

there. 

Act IV J Scene i. 

This play is based upon three of the 
simplest and most radical of the 
teachings of the Bible : 

^^ Judge not according to the ap- 
pearancCj but judge righteous judg- 
ment. ' ' 

' ' He that loseth his life for my sake 
shall find it. ' ' 

^^Love is the fulfilling of the law.'^ 

The dramatic form upon which this 
play is built is that of the Opinion. 
The repetition of the word opinion 
and its sister qualities in this play is 
interesting and significant. The posi- 
tive side of a dramatic principle pos- 
sesses necessarily its negative or re- 
verse, w^hich is used scientifically by 
Shakespeare as an essential accom- 



The Merckaxt of Venice 25 

paniment to the development of the 
main idea. This negative condition 
is the reverse of all that constitutes 
righteous judgment, i. e., opinion. 
An opinion is a mental outlook for 
which man gives a reason. This abil- 
ity to reason skillfully, when devel- 
oped, becomes judgment. The re- 
verse of this is prejudice. A preju- 
dice is that outlook upon things or 
people for which no reason can be 
given, and of all twists aside of v/hich 
the human mind is capable, it is the 
most impossible to straighten, for it 
is without genuine mental foundation. 
Shakespeare selected for his drama- 
tized negative the racial hatred of the 
Jew — a prejudice so deeply rooted in 
the minds of all people that it seems 
like a hopeless task to think of ever 



26 The Merchant of Venice 

removing it. This antagonism against 
the Hebrew race antedates the Chris- 
tian era and is as old as the history of 
the race itself. Why? Because 
while their neighbors were bowing 
down in worship to many material 
forms^ the Hebrews elevated their 
worship of God into Mind, and cried, 
that they might be known of all men, 
^^Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God 
is One Lord," and ^^Thou shalt have 
no other gods before me." 

Jesus, born of the tribe of Judah. 
came in due time, adding His testi- 
mony to that of Moses and the proph- 
ets, ^^I come not to destroy, but to ful- 
fill the law," and ^^A new command- 
ment give I unto you, that ye love one 
-another. " 

Hence, in this wonderful dramati- 



The Meechant of Venice 27 

zation of the imperious demands of 
Christianity upon human capacities^ 
Shylock and his sense of justice rep- 
resent the Mosaic law, which says, 
^^An eye for an eye, and a tooth for 
a tooth, '^ w^hile Portia is the embodi- 
ment of the ^^new commandment" — 
love — which shows ^4ikest God's/^ 
when mercy seasons the human sense 
of justice. 

This wonderful race was hated by 
all its Oriental neighbors, constantly 
persecuted and conquered until they 
were swallowed up in the innnensity 
of the Roman Empire. In every age 
they were, as they still are, the most 
remarkable people that have ever trod 
the globe. They have been the think- 
ers, prophets, seers, and su|)r8mc 
idealists of the world. Thev have 



28 The Meechaxt of Vextce 

given to Christendom its Christian 
ideals, its Decalogue, its Sermon on 
the Mount, its Bible, and its hope of 
Immortality ; for it is from the empty 
tomb of the Hebrew-born Jesus that 
there arises for the Christian the hope 
of eternal life. The blackest blot up- 
on history's page is the Christian 
treatment of the Hebrew. It is as 
inexcusable as it is without parallel. 
They were hounded from city to city, 
allowed no abiding place, forced to 
wear a dress that was a mark of ig- 
nominy ; they were locked in herds in 
the Ghettos of the great cities of Eur- 
ope, permitted no accomplishments, 
alloYv^ed to enter no trade, art, profes- 
sion or business, but that of money- 
lending. It is not surprising, there- 
fore, that in this they were remark- 



The Merchant of Yenice 29 

ably successful. 

When Antonio and Bassanio ap- 
proach Shylock for the loan of three 
thousand ducats^ he turns upon them 
and, in burning words that voice the 
righteous indignation of his outraged 
race, he says : 

Shylock, 

Signior Antonio, many a time and oft 
In the Rialto you have rated me 
About my moneys and my usances : 
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug, 
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. 
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, 
And spit upon miy Jewish gaberdine, 
And all for use of that which is mine own. 
Well then, it now appears you need my help : 
Go to, then; you come to me, and you say 
^Shylock, we would have moneys ;' you say so ; 
You, that did void your rheum upon my beard 
And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur 
Over your threshold : moneys is your suit. 



30 The Merchant of Venice 

What should I say to you? Should I not say | 
*Hath a dog money ? is it possible 
A cur can lend three thousand ducats?' Or 
Shall I bend low and in a bondman's key, 
With bated breath and whispering humbleness, 

Say this; 

Tair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last ; 
You spurn'd me such a day ; another time 
You caird me dog ; and for these courtesies 
I'll lend you thus much moneys ?' 

Act h Scene 3. 

Antonio makes a very discourteous 
reply : 

Antonio, 

I am as like to call thee so again, 
To spit on thee again, to spurn thee too. 
If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not 
As to thy friends ; for when did friendship take 
A breed for barren metal of his friend? 
But lend it rather to thine enemy. 
Who if he break, thou mayst with better face: 

Exact the penalty. ^ r o 

Act I, Scene 3. 



\ 



The Merchant of Venice 31 

When first approached by Bassanio 

for the loan for which Antonio should 

become bound, Shvlock says to him- 
self : 

Shylock. 
If I catch him once upon the hip, 
I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. 
He hates our sacred nation, and he rails, 
Even there where merchants most do congre- 
gate, 
On me, my bargains and my well-won thrift, 
Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe, 
If I forgive him ! 

Act I, Scene 3, 

Presentiment, intuition and super- 
stition being akin to the central ideas, 
opinion and prejudice, are introduced 
with rare art into this play, which op- 
ens with a statement freighted with 
presentiment : 



32 The Merchant of Venice 

Antonio, 
In sooth, I know not why I am so sad : 
It wearies me; you say it wearies you; 
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, 
What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, 
I am to learn ; 

And such a want-wit sadness makes of me 
That I have much ado to know myself. 

Act I, Scene i. 

and Bassanio, in the conversation 
which follows, has an intuition that 
he will be successful in his suit for 
Portia's hand in marriage. 

Bassanio. 

my Antonio, had I but the m^eans 
To hold a rival place with one of them, 

(i. e,, Portias suitors,) 

1 have a mind presages me such thrift, 
That I should questionless be fortunate! 

Act I, Scene i. 

and Shylock's presentiments ring 



The Merchant of Venice 33 

true, though mixed with the baser 
metal of superstition: 

Shylock, 

I am bid forth to supper, Jessica: 
There are my keys. But wherefore should I 

go? 
I am not bid for love; they flatter me: 
But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon 
The prodigal Christian. Jessica, my girl. 
Look to my house. I am right loath to go: 
There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, 
For I did dream of money-bags to-night. 

* 5fC iK >JS 

By Jacob's staff, I swear, 
I have no mind of feasting forth tonight: 
But I Vvdll go. Go you before me, sirrah; 

^ H< ^ ^ • 

Perhaps I will return immediately : 
Do as I bid you ; shut doors after you. 

Act II, Scene 5. 

That night was he robbed, and by- 
Jessica herself, who fled from Venice 



34 The Merchant of Venice 

with her Christian husband, Lorenzo, 
and embarked for Belmont. Shy- 
lock's alternate grieving and cursing 
for the loss of both his daughter and 
his ducats, culminates in lines that 
show that he could as deeply and de- 
votedly love as he could bitterly and 
vindictively hate: 

Tubal. 
One of them showed me a ring that he had 
of your daughter for a monkey. 

Shylock. 
Out upon her ! Thou torturest me, Tubal : 
it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah when 
I was a bachelor: I would not have given it 
for a wilderness of monkeys. 

Act III, Scene i. 

Again, when asked why he prefers a 
pound of Antonio 's flesh to his money, 
Shylock replies in words that never 



The Merchant of Venice 35 

fail to rouse sympathy in the logical 
mind : 

Shylock, 
If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my 
revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered 
me half a million; laughed at my losses, 
mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, 
thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, 
heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? 
I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not 
a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, af- 
fections, passions ? fed with the same food, hurt 
with the same weapons, subject to the same 
diseases, healed by the same means, warmed 
and cooled by the same winter and summer, 
as a Christian is ? If you prick us, do we not 
bleed ? if you tickle us, do we not laugh ? if you 
poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong 
us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you 
in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If 
a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility ? 
Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what 
should his sufferance be by Christian example ? 



36 The Merchant of Venice 

Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I 
will execute, and it shall go hard but I will 
better the instruction. 

Act III, Scene /. 

Antonio is the embodiment of both 
the positive and the negative qualities 
that emphasize the Christian gentle- 
man. He is high-mindedj moral, gen- 
erous and gifted with a capacity to 
love so great that he lays down his 
life for his friend Bassanio, who 
comes to him saying : 

Bassanio. 

To you, Antonio, 
I owe the most, in money and in love, 
And from your love I have a warranty 
To unburden all my plots and purposes 
How to get clear of all the debts I owe. 

Antonio. 
I pray you, good Bassanio, let me know it ; 
And if it stand, as you yourself still do, 



The Merchant of Venice 37 

Within the eye of honor, be assured, 

My purse, my person, my extremest means, 

Lie all unlocked to your occasions. 

^ Jj: J{; 5k 

You know me well, and herein spend but time 
To wind about my love with circumstance; 
And out of doubt you do me now more wrong 
In making question of my uttermost 
Than if you had made waste of all I have : 
Then do but say to me what I should do 
That in your knowledge may by me be done, 
And I am prest unto it : therefore speak. 

Act /, Scene i, 

Bassanio then tells of Iiis suit for Por- 
tia 's hand in marriage, and of his need 
of money for the suitable conduct of 
it, to which Antonio replies : 

Antonio, 
Thou know'st that all my fortunes are at sea; 
Neither have I money nor commodity 
To raise a present sum : therefore go forth ; 
Try what mv credit can in Venice do: 



38 The Merchaxt of Venice 

That shall be racked, even to the uttermost, 
To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia. 
Go, presently inquire, and so will I, 
Where money is^ and I no question make 
To have it of my trust or for my sake. 

Act I, Scene i, 

Tliey go together to Shylock, who 
makes with Antonio the following 
compact : 

Shylock. 

Go with me to a notary, seal me there 

Your single bond ; and, in a merry sport, 

If you repay me not on such a day. 

In such a place, such sum or sums as are 

Express'd in the condition, let the forfeit 

Be nominated for an equal pound 

Of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken 

In what part of your body pleaseth me. 

Antonio. 
Content, i' faith : FU seal to such a bond 
And say there is much kindness in the Jew. 



The Merchant of Venice 39 

Bassanio, 
You shall not seal to such a bond for me: 
I'll rather dwell in my necessity. 

Antonio. 
Why, fear not, man ; I will not forfeit it : 
Within these two months, that's a month before 
This bond expires, I do expect return 
Of thrice three times the value of this bond. 

Act I, Scene 3. 

When, three months later, Anto- 
nio's ships have not come to port and 
Shylock is vindictively claiming the 
forfeiture, Salarino says of Antonio : 

Salarino, 
A kinder gentleman treads not the earth. 
I saw Bassanio and Antonio part : 
Bassanio told him he would make some speed 
Of his return: he answered, 'Do not so; 
Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio, 
But stay the very riping of the time ; 
And for the Jew's bond which he hath of me, 
Let it not enter in your mind of love: 



40 The Merchant of Yeistice 

* * * * 

And even there, his eye being big with tears, 
Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, 
And with affection wondrous sensible 
He wrung Bassanio's hand ; and so they parted. 

and Salanio adds : 

Salanio, 
I think he only loves the world for him. 
I pray thee, let us go and find him out 
And quicken his embraced heaviness 
With some delight or other. 

Act II, Scene 8, 

When Bassanio receives the news 
of Antonio 's inability to pay the duc- 
ats and communicates it to Portia, we 
learn that Antonio was : 

Bassanio, 
The dearest friend, the kindest man, 
The best-condition'd and unwearied spirit 
In doing courtesies, and one in whom 
The ancient Roman honour more appears 
Than any that draws breath in Italy. 



The Merchant of Venice 41 

Portia. 
What sum owes he the Jew? 

Bassanio, 
For me three thousand ducats. 

Portia. 

What, no more? 
Pay him six thousand, and deface the bond ; 
Double six thousand, and then treble that, 
Before a friend of this description 
Shall lose a hair through Bassanio's fault. 

Act III, Scene 2. 

In court, when Antonio feels that 
the arm of the law is powerless to ex- 
tricate him from the meshes that his 
own and the Jew's lav/less hatred has 
w^oven about him, he says : 

Antonio. 
I am arm'd and well prepared. 
Give me your hand, Bassanio: fare you welll 
Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you ; 
For herein Fortune shows herself more kind 



42 The Merchant of Venice 

Than is her custom : it is still her use 
To let the wretched man outlive his wealth, 
To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow 
An age of poverty ; from which lingering pen- 
ance 
Of such a misery doth she cut me off. 
Commend me to your honourable wife : 
Tell her the process of Antonio's end ; 
Say how I loved you, speak me fair in death ; 
And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge 
Whether Bassanio had not once a love. 

Act IVy Scene i. 

But this love is limited and does not 

extend to the Jew, his neighbor, uponi 

whom he spits freely and knows only 

by the name of dog; to which indig- 
nity Shylock pertinently replies : 

Shylock, 
Thou cairdst me dog before thou hadst a cause ;; 
But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs. 

Act III, Scene 5. 
Such respect has Antonio for the 



The Meechant of Venice 43 

world's estimation of riches, and of 
the man who possesses them^ that he 
prefers death to advanced years, un- 
less accompanied with wealth. Gra- 
tiano has already advised him not to 
fish ^^for this fool-gudgeon — this 
opinion. ' ' 

Gratiano. 
Signior Antonio; 

You have too much respect upon the world : 
They lose it that do buy it with much care. 

Act I, Scene /. 

The loss of the world's estimation 
robbed the grave for him of its sting. 
This ignominious attitude toward 
money is in sharp contrast to that of 
Portia's. She only mshed ^^In vir- 
tueSj beauties, livings, friends, to ex- 
ceed account," that she might enrich 
another. 



44 The Merchant of Venice 

Portia steps before us appealing 
for sjonpathy : ' ' By my troth, Neris- 
sa, rny little body is aweary of this 
great world." 

Portia. 
But this reasoning is not in the fashion to 
choose me a husband. O me, the word 
'choose' ! I may neither choose v/hom I would 
nor refuse whom I disHke ; so is the will of a 
living daughter curbed by the will of a dead 
father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot 
choose one nor refuse none? 

Nerissa. 
Your father was ever virtuous ; and holy men 
at their death have good inspirations : therefore 
the lottery, that he hath devised in these three 
chests of gold, silver and lead, Vvmereof who 
chooses his meaning chooses you, will, no 
doubt, never be chosen by any rightly but one 
wlio shall rightly love. 

>{< ^ J|C ij< 

Do you not remember, lady, in your father's 



The Merchant of Venice 45 

time, a Venetian, a scholar and a soldier, that 
came hither in company of the Marquis of 
Montferrat ? » 

Portia, 
Yes, yes, it was Bassanio ; as I think, he 
was so called. 

Nerissa. ^ 
True, madam : he, of all the men that ever 
my foolish eyes looked upon, was the best de- 
serving a fair lady. 

Portia. 
I remember him well, and I remember him 
worthy of thy praise. 

Act I, Scene 2. 

And later ^ when Bassanio stands be- 
fore the caskets, to win or lose her, 
Portia says : 

Portia, 
Away, then ! I am lock'd in one of them : 
If you do love me, you will find me out. 

Act III, Scene 2 



46 The Merchant of Venice 

Portia typifies throughout this play; 
the Ideal for which every man who is 
born into the world strives. 

'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men 

desire/ 
Why, that's the lady ; all the world desires her ; 
From the four corners of the earth they come, 
To kiss this shrine, this mortal breathing saint : 
The Hyrcanian deserts and the vastly wilds 
Of wide Arabia are as throughfares now 
For princes to come view fair Portia: 
The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head 
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar 
To stop the foreign spirits, but they come, 
As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia. 

Act II, Scene 7. 
Lorenzo, 
How cheer'st thou, Jessica? 
And now, good sweet, say thy opinion. 
How dost thou like the Lord Bassanio's wife?? 

Jessica, 
Past all expressing. It is very meet 



The Merchant of Venice 47 

The Lord Bassanio live an upright Hfe ; 

For, having such a blessing in his lady, 

He finds the joys of heaven here on earth • 
* * ^ ^ ' 

Why, if two gods should play some heavenly 

match 
And on the wager lay two earthly women, 
And Portia one, there must be something else 
Pawn'd with the other, for the poor rude world 
Hath not her fellow. 

Act III, Scene 5. 
Bassanio, 
In Belmont is a lady richly left ; 
And she is fair and, fairer than that word, 
Of wondrous virtues : sometimes from her eyes 
I did receive fair speechless messages : 
Her name is Portia, nothing undervalued 
To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia: 
Nor is the wide world ignorant of her vv^orth. 
For the four winds blow in from every coast 
Renowned suitors, and her sunny locks 
Hang on her temples like a golden fleece ; 
Which makes her seat of Belmont Colchos' 



48 The Merchant of Venice 

strand, 
And many Jasons come in quest of her/ 

Act I, Scene i. j 

In ancient Greece, tlie Golden 
Fleece hidden on Colchos' strand typ- 
ified this same idea, and the story goes , 
that when Jason had successfully 
braved incredible dangers for the 
possession of it and had brought it 
home and placed it in the temple, each 
person who made the effort to view 
its loveliness saw therein embodiedl 
his own highest sense of beauty.. 
Therefore, since Portia typifies iri^ 
this play the ideal, her home, Belmont 
is artistically introduced by Shake- 
speare as "Colchos' strand," and hen 
suitors as *'many Jasons who come in 
search of her." 

Here, of necessity, in the home oJ 



The Merchant of Venice 49 

the Ideal, Belmont, the height of 
beauty, must the masculine repre- 
sentative meet the feminine repre- 
sentative of the Ideal ; thus revealing 
through dramatic and romantic scenes 
the fact that all heavenly qualities 
unite in each individual consciousness 
to satisfy man that he is indeed God^s 
image and likeness. Here at Belmont 
^^all journeys end lovers' meeting,'' 
and here, therefore, as the play pro- 
gresses, do all the leading characters, 
except Shylock, gather in happy un- 
ion. 

The symbolic interest of this play 
centers in the casket scenes, and cul- 
minates in the court room. The in- 
scriptions upon the caskets are 
freighted with peculiar significance, 
and are the direct outcome of the ba- 



50 The Merchant of Venice 

sic ideas upon wliicli this play rests. 

The first, of gold, who this inscription bears, 
Who chooseth me shall gain what many men 

desire ;' 
The second, silver, which this promise carries, 
'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he 
deserves ;' 
This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt, 
'Who chooseth me must give and hazard 
all he hath.' 
How shall I know if I do choose the right? 

Act II, Scene 7. 

The Prince of Morocco, from Afri- 
can shores, beturbaned and be jeweled, 
black as the ace of spades, and con- 
sumed with self-love, addresses him- 
self to Portia for personal approval, 
but is turned of necessitv by her to 
the resources of his own judgment. 
He knows that '^ appearances are 
against him," and with mingled fear 



The Merchant of Venice 51 
and vanity lie says to Portia: 

Morocco. 
Mislike me not for my complexion, 
The shadowed livery of the burnished sun, 
To whom I am a neighbor and near bred. 
Bring me the fairest creature northward born, 
Where Phoebus' fire scarce thaws the icicles, 
And let us make incision for your love, 
To prove vv^hose blood is reddest, his or mine. 
I tell thee, lady, this aspect of mine 
Hath fear'd the valiant: by my love, I swear 
The best-regarded virgins of our clime 
Have loved it too : I would not change this hue. 
Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen. 

Portia. 
In terms of choice I am not solely led 
By nice direction of a maiden's eyes ; 
Besides, the lottery of my destiny 
Bars me the right of voluntary choosing: 
But if my father had not scanted me, 
And hedged me by his wit, to yield myself 
His wife who wins me by that means I told 
you, 



! 



52 The Merchant of Venice 

Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair 
As any comer I have look'd on yet 
For my affection. 

Morocco. 

Even for that I thank you : 
Therefore, I pray you, lead me to the caskets 

To try mv fortune. 

Act II, Scene i. 

As he stands before the caskets he 
fervently ejaculates, "Some god di-| 
rect my judgment." 

Morocco. i 

Let me see; • 

I will survey the inscriptions back again. I 

What says this leaden casket? 

'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he 

hath.' 
Must give ! for what ? for lead ? hazard for lead . 
This casket threatens. Men that hazard all 
Do it in hope of fair advantages : 
A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross j 
I'll then nor give nor hazard aught for lead. ^ 



The Merchant of Venice 53 

What says the silver with her virgin hue ? 
*Who chooseth me shall get as much as he 

deserves.' 
As much as he deserves? Pause there, Mo- 
rocco, 
And weigh thy value with an even hand : 
If thou be'st rated by thy estimation, 
Thou dost deserve enough ; and yet enough 
May not extend so far as to the lady : 
And yet to be afeard of my deserving 
Were but a weak disabling of myself. 
As much as I deserve ! Why, that's the lady : 
I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes, 
In graces and in qualities of breeding; 
But more than these, in love I do deserve. 
What if I stray 'd no further, but chose here? 
Let's see once more this saying graved in gold ; 
'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men 
desire.' 

AVhy, that's the lady ; all the world desires her r 
From the four corners of the earth they come. 
To kiss this shrine, this mortal breathing saint : 
The Hyrcanian deserts and the vasty wilds 



54 The Merchant of Venice 

Of wide Arabia are as throughfares now 
For princes to come view fair Portia: 
The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head 
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar 
To stop the foreign spirits, but they come, 
As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia. 
One of these three contains her heavenly pic- 
ture. 

Is't Hke that lead contains her? 'Twere damna- 
tion 

To think so base a thought : it were too gross 

To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. 

Or shall I think in silver she's immured, 

Being ten times undervalued to tried gold? 

O sinful thought ! Never so rich a gem 

Was set in worse than gold. They have in 

England 
A coin that bears the figure of an angel 

Stamped in gold, but that's insculp'd upon ; 
But here an angel in a golden bed 
Lies all within. Deliver me the key : 
Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may ! 

Portia, 
There, take it, prince ; and if my form lie there, 



The Merchant of Venice 55 

Then I am yours. 

{He unlocks the golden casket.) 
Morocco. 

O hell ! what have we here ? 
A carrion Death, within whose empty eye 
There is a written scroll ! V\\ read the writing. 
(Reads) All that glisters is not gold ; 

Often have you heard that told : 
Many a man his life hath sold 
But my outside to behold: 
Gilded tombs do worms infold. 
Had you been as wise as bold, 
Young in limbs, in judgement old, 
Your answer had not been inscrolFd : 
Fare you well; your suit is cold. ^ 

Act II, Scene 7. 
With the dismissal of Morocco, ar- 
rives Arragon, suave, hopeful and se- 
cure in his sense of his own superior 
discernment and deser\ings. As he 
stands before the caskets he exclaims 
with elated confidence : 



56 The Merchant of Venice 

Arragon. 

Fortune now 
To my heart's hope! Gold; silver; and base 

lead. 
'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all 

he hath.' 
You shall look fairer, ere I give or hazard. 
What says the golden chest? ha! let me see: 
*Who chooseth me shall gain what many men 

desire.' 
What many men desire! that 'many' may be 

meant 
By the fool multitude, that choose by show, 
Not learning more than the fond eye doth 

teach ; 
Which pries not to the interior, but, like the- 

martlet, 
Builds in the weather on the outward wall, 
Even in the force and road of casualty. 
I will not choose what many men desire, 
Because I will not jump with common spirits 
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes. 
Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house; 



The Mekchant of Venice 57 

Tell me once more what title thou dost bear : 

'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he de- 
serves :' 

And well said too ; for who shall go about 

To cozen fortune and be honourable 

Without the stamp of merit? Let none pre- 
sume 

To wear an undeserved dignity. 

O, that estates, degrees and offices 

Were not derived corruptly, and that clear hon- 
our 

Were purchased by the merit of the wearer! 

How many then should cover that stand bare ! 

How many be commanded that command! 

How much low peasantry would then be 
gleaned 

From the true seed of honour ! and how much 
honour 

Pick'd from the chafif and ruin of the times 

To be new-varnish'd ! Well, but to my choice : 

'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he de- 
serves.' 

I will assume desert. Give me a key for this, 



58 The Merchant of Venice 

And instantly unlock my fortunes here. 

{He opens the silver casket.) 

Portia, 
Too long a pause for that which you find there. 

Arragon, 
AVhat's here? the portrait of a blinking idiot, 
Presenting me a schedule ! I will read it. 
How much unlike art thou to Portia ! 
How much unlike my hopes and my deserv- 

ings ! 
'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he 

deserves.' 
Did I deserve no more than a fool's head ? 
-Is that my prize? are my deserts no better? 

Portia, 
To offend, and judge, are distinct offices 
And of opposed natures. 

Arragon. 

What is here? 
(Reads) The fire seven times tried this: 

Seven times tried that judgment is, 
That did never choose amiss. 



The Merchant of Venice 59 

Some there be that shadows kiss; 
Such have but a shadow's bUss : 
There be fools aUve, I wis, 
Silver'd o'er ; and so was this. 
Take what wife you will to bed, 
I will ever be your head : 
So be gone, sir : you are sped. 

Still more fool I shall appear 
By the time I Hnger here : 
With one fooFs head I came to woo, 
But I go away with two. 

Act II, Scene p. 

Thus does Shakespeare depict the 
power of the sinuous false logic of ap- 
pearances to lead heated ambition and 
calculating worldliness to place their 
ideal in merelv material conditions. 
When they have cast in their all for 
what they did desire, and for what 
they claimed as their desert, their re- 
ward is even a carrion death and a 



60 The Merchant of Venice 

blinking idiocy. 

With Arragon's exit, Bassanio en- 
ters the arena. Of Bassanio we are 
told nothing directly and everything 
indirectlj^ He, and he only, had 
penetrated far enough into the home 
of the Ideal to have received from 
Portia's eyes fair speechless mes- 
sages, which informed him that he 
should ^ ' questionless be fortunate, ' ' if 
he but pursued his suit in the face of 
all obstacles to its end. Bassanio had 
in his favor, birth, breeding and cor- 
rect idealistic perceptions, but he had 
no money. This is error's last con- 
temptible weapon in seeking to pre- 
vent the consummation of idealistic 
conditions for man. The ^^ earth al- 
ways helps the woman,'' and Anto- 
nio's boundless affection for Bassa- 



The Merchant of Venice 61 

nio, in whom he sees a type of his own 
ideal fulfilled, provides the necessary 
material equipment for the progress 
of the idea towards its goal — this 
home of the good and the true where 
finally all the leading characters of 
the play, except Shylock, meet in hap- 
py union. 

As Bassanio stands before the cas- 
kets he presents a striking contrast to 
his predecessors. In support of the 
key-note of this play, ^^ Judge not by 
appearance, but judge righteous judg- 
ment, ' ' the leaden casket bears the in- 
scription, ^^Wlio chooseth me must 
give and hazard all he hath. ' ' What 
ideal is that for which man will not 
give and hazard all he hath? This 
is the test of our desire and our de- 
serts. Bassanio having sought first 



62 The Merchant of Venice 

his highest understanding of love, and 
glad to have something demanded of 
him in proof of his capacity to love, 
had all these things represented by 
the gold and silver caskets added, as 
a natural sequence, unto him. 

Shakespeare introduces at this 

point this song : 

Song. 
Tell me where is fancy bred, 
Or in the heart or in the head? 
How begot, how nourished? 

Reply, reply. 
It is engendered in the eyes, 
With gazing fed; and fancy dies 
In the cradle where it Hes. 

Let us all ring fancy's knell : 
ril begin it, — Ding, dong, bell. 

Act III, Scene 2, 

^^It is neither of the heart nor of 
the head; it is not begot nor nour- 



The Merchant of Venice 63 

ished. It is by gazing fed. It is en- 
gendered in the eyes and there it 
dies. ' ' No one metaphysical doctrine 
is so dramatized by Shakespeare as 
the subtle power of the eyes to de- 
ceive. It is the whole theme of some 
of his plays, and the analysis of it will 
frequently appear in these Interpre- 
tations. The eye, when governed by 
spiritual perception, which judges not 
at all by the things which are seen 
and temporal, but by things which are 
not seen and are eternal, is the guide 
to righteous judgment. The mathe- 
matical reversal of this is fancy, mes- 
merism, that presents itself through 
material forms to beguile, to befool, 
deceive, ruin poor misguided mortals 
who believe that desire and desert can 
be satisfied in the gratification of ma- 



64 The Meecha^^t of Venice 

terial possession. 

The mesmeric spell of appearance 
had long since been conquered by Bas- 
sanio, whose first words are : 

Bassanio. 
So may the outward shows be least themselves ; 
The world is still deceived v/ith ornament. 
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt 
Bill, being seasonal with a gracious voice, 
Obscures the show of evil? In religion, 
What damned error, but some sober brow 
Will bless it and approve it with a text, 
Hidinp* the ^-rossness with fair ornament? 
There is no vice so simple but assumes 
Some mark of virtue on his outward parts : 
How many cowards, whose hearts are all as 

false 
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins 
The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars, 
Who, inward search'd, have livers white as 

milk ; 
And these assume but valour's excrement 



The Merchant of Venice 65 

To render them redoubted! Look on beauty, 
And you shall see 'tis purchased by the weight ; 
Which therein works a miracle in nature, 
Making them lightest that wear most of it : 
So are those crisped snaky golden locks 
Which make such wanton gambols with the 
wind, 

Upon supposed fairness, often known 
To be the dowry of a second head, 
The ski:ll that bred them in a sepulchre. 
Thus ornam.ent is but the gilded shore 
To a most dangerous sea ; the beauteous scarf 
Veiling an Indian beauty ; in a word. 
The seeming truth which cunning times put on 
To entrap the wisest. Therefore, thou gaudy 
gold, 

Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee ; 
Nor none of thee, thou pale and common 

drudge 
'Tween man and man: but thou, tliou meagre 

lead, 
Which rather threatenest than dost promise 

aught, 



66 The Mekchant of Venice 

Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence ; 
And here choose I : joy be the consequence! 
What find I here? 

{Opening the leaden casket,) 

Fair Portia's counterfeit! What demi-god 
Hath come so near creation? Move these eyes? 
Or whether, riding on the balls of mine, 
Seem they in motion ? Here are severed lips, 
Parted with sugar breath : so sweet a bar 
Should sunder such sweet friends. Here in 

her hairs 
The painter plays the spider and hath woven 
A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men 
Faster than gnats in cobwebs : but her eyes, — 
How could he see to do them? having made 

one, 
Methinks it should have power to steal both his 
And leave itself unfurnished. Yet look, how far 
The substance of my praise doth wrong this 

shadow. 
In underprising it, so far this shadow 
Doth Hmp behind the substance. Here's the 

scroll, 



The Merchant of Venice 67 

The continent and summary of my fortune. 
(Reads) You that choose not by the view, 
Chance as fair and choose as true ! 
Since this fortune falls to you, 
Be content and seek no new. 
If you be well pleased with this 
And hold your fortune for your bliss, 
Turn you where your lady is 
And claim her with a loving kiss. 
A gentle scroll. Fair lady, by your leave; 
I come by note, to give and to receive. 
Like one of two contending in a prize, 
That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes. 
Hearing applause and universal shout. 
Giddy in spirit, still gazing in a doubt 
Whether those peals of praise be his or no. 
So, thrice-fair lady, stand I, even so; 
As doubtful whether what I say be true. 
Until confirmed, sign'd, ratified by you. 

Portia, 
You see me. Lord Bassanio, where I stand, 
Such as I am ; though for myself alone 
I would not be ambitious in my wish, 



68 The Merchant of Venice 

To wish myself much better ; yet, for you 
I would be trebled twenty times myself; 
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times 
More rich ; 

That only to stand high in your account, 
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, 
Exceed account ; but the full sum of me 
Is sum of— something, which, to term in gross 
Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised ; 
Happy in this, she is not yet so old 
But she may learn ; happier than this, 
She is not bred so dull but she can learn ; 
Happiest of all in that her gentle spirit 
Commits itself to yours to be directed, 
As from her lord, her governor, her king. 
Myself and what is mine to you and yours 
Is now converted : but now I was the lord 
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, 
Queen o'er myself ; and even now, but now. 
This house, these servants and this same my- 
self 
Are yours, my lord : I give them with this ring ; 
Which when you part from, lose, or give away, 



The Merchant of Venice 69 

Let it presage the ruin of your love 
And be my vantage to exclaim on you. 

Bassanio, 
Madam, you have bereft me of all words, 
Only my blood speaks to you in my veins ; 
And there is such confusion in my powers 
As, after some oration fairly spoke 
By a beloved prince, there doth appear 
Among the buzzing, pleased multitude ; 
Where every something, being blent together, 
Turns to a wild of nothing, save of joy, 
Express'd and not expressed. But when this 

ring 
Parts from this finger, then parts life from 

hence : 
O, then be bold to say Bassanio's dead ! 

Act III, Scene J. 
Although Portia is now given in 
marriage to Bassanio by her father 's^ 
will, Bassanio will not accept its pro- 
visions. His victory is not complete 
until ^^ confirmed, signed, ratified" by 



70 The Merchant of Veistice 

Portia, thus restoring to her the free- 
dom of individual judgment, tempo- 
rarily taken from her by her father. 

This ideal is the manifestation of 
man's highest sense of goodness, beau- 
ty and truth. This can be discerned 
from afar, as Bassanio looked upon 
Portia, but the actual possession of 
it is only entered in upon as did Bas- 
sanio, by judging not according to ap- 
pearance, but judging righteous judg- 
ment. The meaning of ^^He who lay- 
eth down his life for my sake shall 
find it,'' was grasped by Shakespeare 
and imaged forth by Bassanio, who, 
in his willingness to fulfill the de- 
mand of the leaden casket, and ' ' Give 
and hazard all he hath," found that 
for which he did give and hazard. 

Above and bevond all desire for ma- 



The Merchant of Venice 71 

terial possession lies the Ideal, Mdden 
from all who seek her according to ap- 
pearance, but generous in the com- 
plete giving of herself is she to those 
who silently reach out and find her in 
obedience to the spiritual law, which 
alone endows man with a capacity for 
righteous judgment. 

In every age has the light of the 
spiritual ideal risen, set, and again 
been brought forth by one who, like 
Bassanio, should rightly love. The 
phenomenon of appearance, disap- 
pearance and reappearance has al- 
w^ays accompanied it, because of the 
limited human sense that wakes and 
sleeps in regard to man's oneness with 
God, the ever-present I AM, who 
neither comes nor goes. This phe- 
nomenon sharply accentuates the his- 



72 The Merchant of Venice 

tory of Jesus' career on earth. He 
appeared in Bethlehem, disappeared 
into Egypt, and reappeared in the 
temple that He might be about his 
Father's business. He appeared in 
Nazareth as the son of the carpenter, 
disappeared into the wilderness, to re- 
appear in Galilee, where He began 
His ministrj^ He appeared in Jeru- 
salem for crucifixion, disappeared 
within a rock-bound tomb, only to re- 
appear in a Garden. His appearance 
on the shores of the Galilean sea was 
followed by his disappearance in as- 
cension, and since He said, ^^Lo, I am 
with YOU ahvavs," therefore his final 
reappearing will of necessity be im- 
personal and permanent. 

Portia's humor is tinged with wis- 
dom, and her keen sense of justice 



The Merchant of Venice 73 

with mercy. When she finds tliat Bas- 
sanio's friend Antonio stands in dan- 
ger of his life for the want of a few 
thousand ducats, she instantly sup- 
plies thrice the amount. Money is 
readily used by Portia for suc-h a 
friend ! Rising in the scale of ideal- 
ism, Portia next proposes that she and 
Bassanio give up their wedding day 
to the saving of this friend 's life, and 
the culmination of her understanding 
of the s]3iritual law of unselfed love 
is when, in the court scene which fol- 
lows swiftlv on the heels of her mar- 
riage, she tries to save the Jew from 
his own undoing. 

Under the effulgence of the wisdom 
and love that Portia brought to bear 
upon the ignorance of hate and mal- 
ice that had struck at Antonio's life. 



74 The Merchant of Venice 

those evils were arrested and driven 
out. Human justice would have been 
obliged to give Shylock his bond. The 
appearance of the law^ justified it, and 
all, including the powerful Duke of 
Venice himself, were pov/erless under 
its rigid exactions to save the life of 
a fellow man. It was to the heavenly 
sense of mercy that the flaws in the 
bond framed by malice and hate were 
revealed; for ^^Love is the fulfilling 
of the law. ' ' Portia is never so plain- 
ly the dramatization of man's capac- 
ity to show ^4ikest God's'' as she is 
w^hen, kindly, persuasively, does she 
try to win the Jew to take the money 
so precious she knows to him, and 
which he will surely lose if he refuse 
it thrice in court. 
Portia. 



The Meechant of Venice 75 

Shylock, there's thrice thy money offered thee. 

^ ^ H: ^ 

Be merciful : 

Take thrice thy money ; bid me tear the bond. 

Act IVy Scene i. 

The enriching of the Jew by many 
times the original amount borrowed 
was offered by Portia from out the 
wealth of her own coffers. She is not 
introduced hj Shakespeare to trap the 
wretched Jew, but to heal and save 
him from himself; otherwise how 
could she consistently say, ^^Then 
must the Jew be merciful?" Could 
Shakespeare allow her to ask more of 
the Jew, with his burden of wrongs, 
than she herself could give from the 
abundance of her heaven-endowed 
perception that love is the fulfilling 
of the law? 



76 The Merchant of Venice 

If this metaphysical understanding 
of law, which is ahva5^s mercif ul, were 
the established code in use in the le- 
gal, world today, how drfierent would 
be the attitude of stern justice toward 
the defiant criminal at the bar. How^ 
invaluable would it be in detecting 
and destroying the evil motive that 
alone produces the criminal act, thus 
protecting the innocent and aiding in 
the release of the prisoner from the 
bondage of vice and the oft-time bated 
desire for evil doino*. Hovr much 
greater protection to public morals 
this would be than sending the 
wretched and protesting victim to the 
electric chair, or gallows, while all his 
undestroyed desires angrily multiply 
and react upon unguarded conscious- 
ness, to find ten channels of activity 



The Merchant of Vexice 77 

to the one ignorantly destroyed. 
The trial proceeds : 

Ditke. 
Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth. 

Portia, 
Is your name Shylock? 

Shylock. 

Shylock is my name 

Portia. 
Of a strange nature is the suit you follow ; 
Yet in such rule that the Venetian law 
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed. 
You stand within his danger, do you not? 

Antonio. 
Ay, so he says. 

Portia, 

Do you confess the bond ? 
Antonio, 

I do. > * 

} -, J 
Portia, 

Then must the Tew be merciful. 



78 The Meechant of Venice 

Shylock, 
On what compulsion must I? tell me that 

Portia. 
The quality of mercy is not strained; 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blest; 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes : 
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown ; 
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
The attribute to awe and majesty, 
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings ; 
But mercy is above this sceptred sway ; 
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 
It is an attribute to God himself ; 
And earthly powef doth then show likest God's 
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew, 

Though justice be thy plea, consider this, 
That, in the course of justice, none of us 
Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ; 
And that same prayer .doth teach us all to 

render 
The deeds of mercy. 

Act IV, Scene i. 



The Merchant of Venice 79 

No more striking scene exists in all 
dramatic literature than this where 
Shylock and Portia face one another 
for either the destruction or preser- 
vation of Antonio. Shylock, repre- 
senting the Mosaic law, waits to ' ' feed 
fat the ancient grudge" he owed An- 
tonio, and Portia, the embodiment of 
the new commandment, seeking to 
save even that which rejects it; for 
^'Love is the fulfilling of the law.'' 
Finding that Shylock is determined to 
refuse the salvation she offers him, 
she swiftly runs the malice to earth 
and, with keen intelligence, addresses 
the Jew as follows : 

Portia. 
A pound of that same merchant's flesh is 

thine : 
The court awards it, and the law doth give it. 



80 The Merchant of Venice 

Shylock. 
Most rightful judge! 

Portia. 
And you must cut this flesh from off his breast : 
The lav/ alloAvs it, and the court awards it. 

Shylock. 
Most learned judge! A sentence! Come, pre- 
pare ! 

Portia. 
Tarry a little ; there is something else. 
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood ; 
The words expressly are 'a pound of flesh:' 
Take then thy bond, take thou thy pound of 

flesh ; 
But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed 
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and 

goods 
Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate 
Unto the state of Venice. 

Shylock. 
Is that the law ? 

Portia. 



The Merchant of Venice 81 

Thyself shalt see the act : 
For, as thou urgest justice, be assured 
Thou shalt have justice, more than thou de- 
sirest. 

Shylock, 
I take this offer, then ; pay the bond thrice 
And let the Christian go. 

Bassanio. 
Here is the money. 

Portia. 

Soft ! 
The Jew shall have all justice; soft! no haste: 
He shall have nothing but the penalty. 
Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh 
Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou less nor more 
But just a pound of flesh: if thou tak'st more 
Or less than a just pound, be it but so much 
As makes it light or heavy in the substance 
Or the division of the twentieth part 
Of one poor scruple, nay, if the scale do turn 
But in the estimation of a hair. 
Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate. 



82 The Meechant of Venice 

Why doth the Jew pause? take thy forfeiture. 

Shylock. 
Give me my principal, and let me go. 

Portia. 
Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, 
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew. 

Shylock. 
Why, then the devil give him good of it! 
ril stay no longer question. 

Portia. 

Tarry, Jew : 

The law hath yet another hold on you. 

It is enacted in the laws of Venice, 

If it be proved against an alien 

That by direct or indirect attempts 

He seek the life of any citizen. 

The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive 

Shall seize one half his goods; the other half 

Comes to the privy coffer of the state ; 

And the offender's life lies in the mercy 

Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice. 

In which predicament, I say, thou stand'st ; 



The Merchaxt of Venice 83 

For it appears, by manifest proceeding, 
That indirectly and directly too 
Thou hast contrived against the very life 
Of the defendant; and thou has incurred 
The danger formerly by me rehearsed. 
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke. 

Duke, 
That thou shalt see the difference of our spirits, 
I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it ; 
For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's ; 
The other half comes to the general state. 
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine. 

Portia. 
Ay, for the state, not for Antonio. 

Shylock, 
Nay, take my life and all ; pardon not that : 
You take my house when you do take the prop 
That doth sustain my house ; you take my life 
When you do take the means whereby I live. 

Portia. 
What mercy can you render him, Antonio? 

Antonio. 



84 The Merchant of Venice 

So please my lord the duke and all the court 

To quit the fine for one-half of his goods 

I am content ; so he will let me have 

The other half in use, to render it, 

Upon his death, unto the gentleman 

That lately stole his daughter : 

Two things provided more, that, for this 

favour, 
He presently become a Christian; 
The other, that he do record a gift, 
Here in the court, of all he dies possess'd. 
Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter. 

Duke. 
He shall do this, or else I do recant 
The pardon that I late pronounced here. 

Portia. 
Art thou contented, Jew? what dost thou 
say? 

Shylock. 
I am content. 

Portia. 

Clerk, draw a deed of gift. 



The Meechant op Venice 85 

Shylock. 

I pray you, give me leave to go from hence ; 
I am not well : send the deed after me, 
And I will sign it. 

Act IV, Scene i. 

Antonio's demand that Shylock be- 
come a Christian would provoke a 
smile were the situation not so pitiful. 
What persuasive loveliness had An- 
tonio's race ever offered Shylock 's 
that could induce him to believe that 
its religion was superior to the faith 
of his fathers? No wonder Shylock 
leaves the court room hurriedly, say- 
ing, " I am not well. ' ' Here may we 
not give rein to kindly imagination 
for one moment and believe that the- 
force of Portia's Ufe-giving goodness 
may have penetrated into the dull suf- 
fering of his outraged sensibilities 



86 The Merchant of Venice 

and there brought the solace of a new 
understanding of the law — ^honored 
from time immemorial by his race — 
ior ^4ove is the fulfilling of the law/' 
Jn taking Jessica, the Jew's daugh- 
ter, to Belmont, as the happy wife of 
a Christian husband, Shakespeare's 
intention was not to lav another 
crushing grief upon Shylock. It was 
rather to show that as the old Judaic 
law of restriction gives way to the new 
Judaic law of the Golden Rule, so in- 
evitably must Jew and Christian meet, 
not in the narrow highways of theol- 
ogy, not in the glamour of form, not 
in the bypaths of bigotry, or formu- 
lated creed, but upon the broad up- 
lands of the First Commandment — 
'^Thou shalt have no other gods be- 
fore me" — and in its inspired inter- 



The Merchant of Venice 87 

pretation of that commandinent from 
the teachings of Jesus, ' ' God is Spirit 
and must be worshipped in Spirit and 
in Truth. '^ 

One of the philosophical doctrines 
introduced by Shakespeare into his 
plays is the power of music to soothe, 
uplift and redeem. Some modern 
thinker has said, and wisely, that 
more music is needed today in the edu- 
cational world, from the kindergarten 
to the university. Through Lorenzo 
and Jessica, a pair of captivating and 
child-like lovers, does Shakespeare 
give forth this acceptable message of 
the efficacy of music. This doctrine 
is aptly allied to the idealistic philoso- 
phy embedded in this play, and again 
points to the fact that this great artist 
was thoroughly familiar with the 



88 The Merchant of Venice 

Book of Books wherein is recorded 
the music of the spheres, when ^^the 
morning stars sang together and all 
the sons and daughters of God shout- 
ed for joy." 

Portia, in her absence, has left Lo- 
renzo and Jessica in charge of Bel- 
mont, and there, like happy children, 
they await her return. The sense of 
companionship in isolation that 
Shakespeare conveys through this 
scene is enchanting. Lorenzo in his 
appreciation of Jessica sa5^s : 

Lorenzo, 
Beshrew me but I love her heartily; 
For she is wise, if I can judge of her, 
And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true, 
And true she is, as she hath proved herself, 
And therefore, like herself, wise, fair and true, 
Shall she be placed in my constant soul. 

Act II y Scene 6. 



The Merchant of Venice 89 

On the night of Portia 's return Bel- 
mont is flooded with moonlight. Lo- 
renzo, walking with Jessica in Bel- 
mont's gardens, says to her: ^'The 
moon shines bright; your mistress is 
at hand ; bring your music forth into 
the air. ' ' 

Lorenzo, 
How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this 

bank ! 
Here will we sit and let the sounds of music 
Creep in our ears : soft stillness and the night 
Become the touches of sweet harmony. 
Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven 
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold : 
There's not the smallest orb which thou be- 

hold'st 
But in his motion like an angel sings, 
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins ; 
Such harmony is in immortal souls; 
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay 
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. 



90 The Merchant of Venice 

Come, ho ! and wake Diana with a hymn : 
With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' 

ear 
And draw her home with music. 

Jessica, 
I am never merry when I hear sweet music. 

Lorenzo, 
The reason is, your spirits are attentive : 
For do but note a v/ild and wanton herd. 
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts. 
Fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing 

loud, 
Which is the hot condition of their blood ; 
If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound, 
Or any air of music touch their ears, 
You shall perceive them make a mutual stand, 
Their savage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze 
By the sweet power of music : therefore the 

poet 
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones and 

floods ; 
Since nought so stockish, hard and full of 

rage, 



The Merchant of Venice 91 

But music for the time doth change his nature. 
The man that hath no music in himself, 
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet 

sounds, 
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils ; 
The motions of his spirit are dull as night 
And his affections dark as Erebus : 
Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music. 

Act V, Scene i. 
Ushered home by these heavenly in- 
fluences of mellowed light and music, 
Portia, as she enters the garden, ex- 
claims : 

Portia. 
That light we see is burning in my hall. 
How far that little candle throws his beams ! 
So shines a good deed in a naughty world. 

^ >js 'jj >!? 

Music ! hark ! 

* * i{s Jj« 

Nothing is good, I see, without respect ; 
Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day. 



92 The Merchaxt of Venice 

How many things by season seasoned are 
To their right praise and true perfection! 
Peace, ho! the moon sleeps with Endymion 
And would not be awaked. 

Act V , Scene i. 

From this point the play runs swift- 
ly to its close, with ^^ right praise and 
true perfection" restoring Bassanio 
to Portia, Gratiano to Nerissa; 
bringing "^ special deed of gift" to 
Jessica and Lorenzo, and the good 
news to Antonio that his ' ' argosies are 
richly come to harbor, suddenly," 
drawing from him the expression of 
heartfelt gratitude to Portia : ' ' Sweet 

lady, you haye given me life and liv- 

• 9 9 
mg." 

With Lorenzo we echo, ^^You drop 
manna in the w^ay of starved people." 



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